Wash. proposes lifting groundwater well moratorium

The state Department of Ecology is proposing to allow new groundwater withdrawals in central Washington's upper Kittitas County, a move that would enable developers to move forward on projects that have been on hold for months.

The state imposed a moratorium in July on new wells in the area on the east slope of the Cascades. The emergency rule was extended 120 days in November but is set to expire March 25, 2010.

The proposal would allow new water withdrawals to occur without requiring mitigation for at least 150 days once the emergency rule expires. Ecology officials say this would allow construction projects to move forward during the spring and summer.

Tom Tebb, Ecology's central regional director, said developers also will have more time to plan for new water rules that are likely to take effect in September 2010.

"We think one 150-day window during the spring and summer of 2010 strikes the right balance," Tebb said in a statement. "It will allow those projects in process to be completed without delay, and it provides time for our water banking program to become more robust."

The state has created a water market to make it easier for landowners to buy water rights from willing sellers to offset new groundwater uses.

County commissioners reviewed the latest proposal with Ecology officials Wednesday and discussed only a few minor changes, Vice Chairman Paul Jewell said. A final document that incorporates those changes should be available for public review on Jan. 6, and a public meeting on the proposal will be scheduled for later in January.

Jewell said he has spoken with developers who have lost millions of dollars since July.

"Some were ready to go with projects and found themselves unexpectedly derailed as they were caught up in this moratorium, really as innocent victims," he said. "That's one of the issues that this agreement addresses. It allows those folks to get back on track with some level of certainty."

At issue are the unpermitted wells that developers and property owners have been using to tap into groundwater to build new homes. State officials banned construction of the so-called exempt wells on July 16 for 120 days, concerned that the newcomers could be impairing senior water rights and streamflows.

The city of Roslyn, the Yakama Nation and a citizens group were among those asking that Ecology bar any new wells while a groundwater study is done.

Ecology said nearly 3,000 wells have been drilled in Kittitas County since 1998, but county commissioners countered that only 41 had been drilled by midsummer this year, showing no emergency exists.

The two sides have been negotiating an agreement in the months since, without success.

If county commissioners agree to the latest proposal, the state would allow the moratorium on new wells to expire without immediately replacing it.

As part of the agreement, Ecology officials said they expect to propose a rule imposing a new moratorium on new groundwater withdrawals for areas described as the valley floor sand and gravel, and underlying bedrock areas unless mitigation water is provided.

Meanwhile, county and state officials will begin to study the condition of aquifers in the bedrock areas of the upper county.

In September, the U.S. Geological Survey issued its 10th study of groundwater in the basin, which is part of a larger effort to understand how groundwater withdrawals affect surface water supplies. The latest report showed groundwater levels in some areas have declined by 10 to 20 feet. In deeper confined aquifers, pumping has reduced water levels by as much as 300 feet.

Groundwater levels in sedimentary aquifers, generally located near rivers and streams, remained fairly steady over the last 50 years, largely due to recharge from surface water and irrigation seepage, the study said. But that water cannot be considered available for new uses because it must be used to meet existing downstream water rights.